For the last four years, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi government led by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao been distributing Bathukamma sarees among the womenfolk to get their goodwill and votes.
This year, too, his government has already begun saree distribution ahead of Bathukamma festival, which KCR thinks would fetch good mileage to the TRS in the ensuing by-election to Munugode assembly constituency.
Interestingly, for the first time, Telangana governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan has also started celebrating parallel Bathukamma festivities, independent of the state government-sponsored programmes in the wake of her confrontation with the chief minister.
Not only that, Tamilisai also chose to distribute to all the women employees of Raj Bhavan parivar, as her personal gift on the occasion of Bathukamma festival. An event was held at Raj Bhavan on Saturday for this saree distribution.
On this occasion, the Governor felicitated a woman constable Naveena, who had save the life of a woman worker who almost lost her life in the stampede at Gymkhana Grounds for cricket match tickets.
The Governor appreciated the Police Constable for performing the CPR and saving the life of the girl.
“I call upon everyone to learn the CPR and save the precious lives in times of emergency. On this auspicious occasion of Batukamma celebrations, let us all pledge to learn the CPR and First Aid skills,” Tamilisai said.
The Governor personally selected the sarees and gifted them to the members of the Raj Bhavanpariwar as part of the Batukamma celebrations.
She said that the Bathukamma, the unique flower festival of the Telangana, is also laced with the underlying practice of exchanging nutritional food items among the women.
The Governor said that she was amazed at knowing that women during the nine day long festivities exchange different traditionally prepared food items, which are full of nutritional values.
“Bathukamma is a very special festival associated with the Mother Nature and essentially is a celebration of life by women of Telangana. The colourful seasonal wild flowers used to prepare the idols of Bathukamma do have the medicinal properties to cleanse the water bodies filled to the brim with the copious rains during the season,” she sad.
Bathukamma marks the re-union of families and visit of daughters of the soil to celebrate the nine-day long festival. Bathukamma is a real tribute to the native Telangana culture and traditions where in women offer prayers to the Goddess Gauri (Goddess Parvati) in the form of Bathukamma, she added.
